The present invention relates to a data communication method between a client apparatus and a server apparatus using a data relaying apparatus, and Web access service using such a data communication method.
As the Internet rapidly spreads, services provided heretofore at windows of business offices, such as ticket reservations or bank and securities transactions, are now provided in the form of access to a Web server via the Internet.
Details of and how to use HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), which is a communication protocol utilized while accessing the Web server are described in detail in, for example, R. Fielding et al., RFC 2616, “Hypertext Transfer Protocol—HTTP/1.1”, June 1999, The Internet Society, which is available on the Internet.
In services, such as ticket reservations or bank and securities transactions, the concentration of service requests according to time is severe. Furthermore, since database access is needed, distribution of processing is difficult. This results in a problem that eventually access concentration occurs on specific Web servers that provide these services. If access concentration on a Web server occurs and its load rapidly becomes heavy, typically the processing performance of the Web server becomes extremely low as compared with that at the time of low load. As a result, a backlog of service requests is further increased. In the worst situation, service interruption occurs.
Furthermore, in the situation where access concentration has occurred, all service requests cannot be processed satisfactorily and consequently even service requests of important users are kept waiting in the same way as ordinary users with no distinction. In addition, even if a service request is issued later, the service might be given accidentally or the service might not be given after a long time wait. Especially in the latter case, the user repeats re-execution over and over again and further access concentration occurs, resulting in a heavier load.
In order for a service provider to solve the above-described problems, in the conventional situation, it is necessary to enhance the performance of a server apparatus at the time when the largest number of access requests is expected to occur, and a heavy investment is needed.